So everything I've ever read says to keep Otos in groups of atleast 3. I was reading last months Tropical Fish Hobbyist (btw highly recommend it to everyone) and there was an article about nano tanks. In it, it mentioned the Pitbull Oto and said that they do "just fine singly". The tank it's in is roughly 8 gallons and the article also says that it's "better suited to aquarium conditions and is a more productive algae eater than the common Otocinclus". I'm just looking for some confirmation of both of the claims but mainly the does fine singly. If that's true then I am going to buy a couple for my tanks since I don't have room to house a group of them in each.

Byron

11-05-2011 07:02 PM

Assuming this fish is correctly identified as Parotocinclus jumbo, then it should be in a group. This species occurs in several rivers in SE Brazil, including the Rio Paraiba where the type specimens were captured. It is always found in large groups. If you do a search you will find several aquarists commenting on their shoaling (or schooling) behaviours.

Britski and Garavello, who described and named this species in 2002, are of the view that this species should likely be reclassified into another (new) genus. Still, that doesn't bear on the fact that it is a shoaling fish.

With no disrespect to Bob Fenner, the author of that article (which I read, and I agree TFH is a worthy periodical), it is rather difficult for any of us to know whether or not a fish is fine on its own. Sometimes one can detect clear indications of stress, and sometimes not. If the fish has evolved over thousands of years to live in a group and is always found as such in its habitat, one would be wiser to assume that is the best way to keep it healthy.

On a side note, the fish pictured in the photo labelled Corydoras adolfoi is not that species, it is Corydoras duplicareus.

Byron.

SomeDudeAtHome

11-05-2011 09:09 PM

Thanks Byron that was exactly the answer I was looking for. I had a feeling but wanted clarification. And that is a interesting side note haha pretty funny. It really is a great magazine but there's atleast 1 or 2 things in each issue that I don't really agree with it seems.

Byron

11-06-2011 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SomeDudeAtHome
(Post 885729)

Thanks Byron that was exactly the answer I was looking for. I had a feeling but wanted clarification. And that is a interesting side note haha pretty funny. It really is a great magazine but there's atleast 1 or 2 things in each issue that I don't really agree with it seems.

Different aquarists will have different opinions; nothing wrong with that, and to some degree all may be "correct" for that matter. But when it comes to the scientific aspect, I tend to listen more to the ichthyologists who have spent years studying the species. Scientific fact and personal opinion do not carry the same weight.